Having your passwords backed up and documented is one of the most important things you can do in your business for future reference or in case someone has to login to any of your accounts and you are not available. It’s just good planning.
Your passwords could be written down in a notebook and put in a safe deposit box that someone has access to in addition to being backed up in the cloud, on another hard drive or some other secure device. It’s also important to have a trusted person who knows how to get access to your passwords.
Once that is taken care of, you have to take your authenticator app into consideration.
What is an authenticator app? An authenticator app uses algorithms to create single use codes, usually 6 digits, that change every 30 – 60 seconds. This is part of 2-factor authentication that most every financial insitution uses now and every other application you currently use including Facebook, LinkedIn and others. If you do not have 2-factor authentication set up yet, I highly recommend setting that up.
Authenticator apps, such as Authy, Google Authenticator, and Microsoft Authenticator, are a more secure form of MFA (Multi-factor Authentication) than one-time codes sent to you via SMS. (MFA is sometimes referred to as 2FA or 2-factor Authentication.)
One of my favorite authenticator apps to use is Twilio Authy because it works. A lot of times you can scan a QR code with some of the other authenticator apps, and it will not pick up all the information. You end up having to put in the master information for each location. Twilio Authy will pick up all the information when others will not. And everything works with it – banks, financial locations and other programs.
In addtion to being used on your smartphone, Twilio Authy can also be used on your desktop or laptop. This way you still have 2-factor authentication, but you don’t have to have your smartphone in front of you to use it. The other advantage of having Authy on your desktop or laptop is you can copy and paste the generated code.
The drawback of having it on your desktop or laptop is if a hacker got access to your computer, they would have access to the authenticator app. This would allow them to access all your online accounts. It is more secure having the authenticator app only on your smartphone.
Click here to check out the Twilio Authy app.
Google Authenticator is another option. I have used this one some and it works. I just trust Twilio Authy more, and I am more familiar with Twilio Authy.
The best authenticator app to have is the one you feel most comfortable with and will use on a regular basis.
The main thing is to make sure you have 2-factor authentication turned on for all you banks, financial institutions Amazon, Facebook and other online applications you may be using. Pick an authenticator you will use regularly so you are familiar with it and can remember the password.
And for security reasons, I highly recommend logging out of the authenticator app after each use.
We live in a world of hackers and other bad actors. So don’t take any chances with your data or your business.
If you’re interested in learning more, send an email to jnay@jimnay.com or call us at 615-443-4842.
All the best,
Jim Nay
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